This release continues the series which we re-established a couple of years ago and which comprises selected annual collections of the biggest US country hits of each year. This great value100-track 4-CD collection goes back to the start of the 1950s, when the relevant Billboard chart was called the Best Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records, and apart from a few weeks at the start of the year, when there was a Top 15, was restricted to a published Top 10. The collection comprises many of the records which appeared in the chart during the year. Although there were many records which harked back to the styles of traditional hillbilly and western swing music, many of the artists featured were those who had established themselves during the late 1940s and would enjoy prolific hit-making careers during the '50s until the business changed significantly in the wake of the rock 'n' roll explosion. Artists like Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Red Foley, Ernest Tubb and Tennessee Ernie Ford are therefore well represented along with many artists whose musical legacy is less well-known these days, as well as pop artists like Margaret Whiting and Kay Starr making forays into the genre through duets with country stars, which makes it a fascinating snapshot of the business as a new decade dawned. With an in-depth 10,000+ word booklet with background notes on every record, it gives a solid overview of the most popular country music of the year.
1 Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely - Slipping Around
2 Mule Train (Tennessee Ernie Ford);
3 Anticipation Blues (Tennessee Ernie Ford);
4 C - H
5 I'll Never Slip Around Again (Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely);
6 Hank Williams - My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
7 Eddy Arnold - Will Santa Come to Shanty Town
8 Ernest Tubb - White Christmas
9 Gene Autry - Here Comes Santa Claus
10 Hank Williams - Lovesick Blues
11 Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys - Whoa Sailor
12 Eddy Arnold - I'm Throwing Rice at the Girl I Love
13 Mervin Shiner - Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me
14 Cry Baby Heart (George Morgan);
15 George Morgan - I Love Everything About You
16 I Won't Go Hunting, Jake, But I'll Go Chasin' Women (Stuart Hamblen);
17 Red Foley - Sunday Down in Tennessee
18 I Gotta Have My Baby Back (Red Foley);
19 Leon Payne - I Love You Because
20 I Love You Because (Leon Payne);
21 I Gotta Have My Baby Back (Floyd Tillman);
22 Careless Kisses (Red Foley);
23 Bob Wills - Ida Red Likes the Boogie
24 Bonaparte's Retreat (Pee Wee King);
- Disc 2 -
1 Eddy Arnold - Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me
2 Eddy Arnold - Mama and Daddy Broke My Heart
3 Little Jimmy Dickens - a
4 A - Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed (Little Jimmy Dickens);
5 Eddy Arnold - There's No Wings on My Angel
6 Ernest Tubb & Red Foley - Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age
7 Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age (Ernest Tubb & Red Foley);
8 Blues Stay Away from Me (Owen Bradley with Jack Shook & Dottie Dillard);
9 Owen Bradley (Jack Shook & Dottie Dillard) - Blues Stay Away from Me
10 Rag Mop (Johnnie Lee Wills);
11 Beyond the Sunset (Three Suns with Elton Britt & Rosalie Allen);
12 Ernest Tubb - I'll Take a Back Seat for You
13 Hank Williams - I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'
14 Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely - Broken Down Merry Go Round
15 Broken Down Merry Go Round (Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely);
16 Ernest Tubb - Unfaithful One
17 Elton Britt & Rosalie Allen - Quicksilver
18 Mervin Shiner - Peter Cottontail
19 Hank Williams - My Son Calls Another Man Daddy
20 Hank Williams - Long Gone Lonesome Blues
21 Peter Cottontail (Johnnie Lee Wills);
22 Long Gone Lonesome Blues (Hank Williams);
23 Peter Cottontail (Jimmy Wakely);
- Disc 3 -
1 Eddy Arnold - Why Should I Cry
2 Eddy Arnold - Little Angel with the Dirty Face
3 Little Angel with the Dirty Face (Eddy Arnold);
4 Johnny Bond - Love Song in 32 Bars
5 Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Red Foley);
6 Give Me a Little Old Fashioned Love (Ernest Tubb);
7 Ernest Tubb - Give Me a Little Old Fashioned Love
8 Red Foley - Birmingham Bounce
9 Birmingham Bounce (Red Foley);
10 Little Jimmy Dickens - Hillbilly Fever
11 Cactus Pryor - Cry of the Dying Duck in a Thunderstorm
12 Cry of the Dying Duck in a Thunderstorm (Cactus Pryor);
13 Choc'late Ice Cream Cone (Kenny Roberts);
14 Bud Messner - Slippin' Around with Jole Blon
15 Ernest Tubb - Throw Your Love Away
16 Choc'late Ice Cream Cone (Red Foley);
17 Cuddle Buggin' Baby (Eddy Arnold);
18 Hank Snow - I'm Moving on
19 Red Foley & Ernest Tubb - Goodnight Irene
20 I'm Moving on (Hank Snow);
21 Eddy Arnold - Enclosed, One Broken Heart
22 Ernest Tubb & Red Foley - Hillbilly Fever No. 2
23 Enclosed, One Broken Heart (Eddy Arnold);
24 Hillbilly Fever No. 2 (Ernest Tubb & Red Foley);
25 Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own (Kay Starr & Tennessee Ernie Ford);
- Disc 4 -
1 Mona Lisa (Jimmy Wakely);
2 Jimmy Wakely - Mona Lisa
3 Cincinnati Dancing Pig (Red Foley);
4 Eddy Arnold - the Lovebug Itch
5 Ernest Tubb - You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry
6 Daddy's Last Letter (Tex Ritter);
7 A Bushel and a Peck (Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely);
8 Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely - a Bushel and a Peck
9 Bob Wills - Faded Love
10 Eddy Arnold - a Prison Without Walls
11 A Prison Without Walls (Eddy Arnold);
12 Nobody's Lonesome for Me (Hank Williams);
13 Hank Williams - Nobody's Lonesome for Me
14 Lefty Frizzell - If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time
15 Gene Autry - Rudolph the Red
16 Moanin' the Blues (Hank Williams);
17 Frosty the Snowman (Gene Autry);
18 Ernest Tubb - Blue Christmas
19 Blue Christmas (Ernest Tubb);
20 Shotgun Boogie (Tennessee Ernie Ford);
21 Mockingbird Hill (Pinetoppers);
22 Hank Snow & His Rainbow Ranch Boys - Golden Rocket
23 Lefty Frizzell - I Love You a Thousand Ways
24 Golden Rocket (Hank Snow & His Rainbow Ranch Boys);
25 I Love You a Thousand Ways (Lefty Frizzell);
26 Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys - Hot Rod Race
27 Hot Rod Race (Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys);
28 Tennessee Waltz (Patti Page)
This release continues the series which we re-established a couple of years ago and which comprises selected annual collections of the biggest US country hits of each year. This great value100-track 4-CD collection goes back to the start of the 1950s, when the relevant Billboard chart was called the Best Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records, and apart from a few weeks at the start of the year, when there was a Top 15, was restricted to a published Top 10. The collection comprises many of the records which appeared in the chart during the year. Although there were many records which harked back to the styles of traditional hillbilly and western swing music, many of the artists featured were those who had established themselves during the late 1940s and would enjoy prolific hit-making careers during the '50s until the business changed significantly in the wake of the rock 'n' roll explosion. Artists like Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Red Foley, Ernest Tubb and Tennessee Ernie Ford are therefore well represented along with many artists whose musical legacy is less well-known these days, as well as pop artists like Margaret Whiting and Kay Starr making forays into the genre through duets with country stars, which makes it a fascinating snapshot of the business as a new decade dawned. With an in-depth 10,000+ word booklet with background notes on every record, it gives a solid overview of the most popular country music of the year.